What a season it was for NCAA wrestling fans! From Oklahoma State to Penn State, athletes from all programs put their best foot forward to satiate the fans’ need for thrill. With the post-season now hovering overhead, the wrestlers have a new challenge waiting for them, and the latest rankings should give us a general idea of where each of them stands. But Drake Ayala‘s place on one of these lists is baffling fans from everywhere.

The Iowa’s 133-pounder has had a pretty memorable 2024/25 regular season. Posting a 15-1 overall record, the Hawkeye junior has proved his worth at almost every chance he got. And still, as one ranking list puts Ayala behind a Lehigh star, fans couldn’t decide what to make of it.

Iowa Wrestling Media’s Ross Bartachek shared the latest InterMat rankings via a post on X on February 25. Captioned, “Where the Hawks fall in the rankings heading into the postseason,” the social media update revealed where the Iowa wrestlers fare going into the Big 10 and NCAA D1 championships. In the list, Drake Ayala can be seen ranked 2 in the 133lb weight bracket.

A closer inspection of the entire list shows Lehigh sophomore Ryan Crookham ranked at the top of the weight class. In January this year, Crookham suffered a broken elbow and Lehigh announced that the rising star would be out for the rest of the season while raking up a 5-0 record till then. And that’s exactly why fans couldn’t understand why Ryan should come ahead of Drake Ayala despite missing the action for so long.

“Yeah we haven’t seen Crookham for 2 months so idk why he’s still ranked,” one fan noted their amazement at InterMat’s decision to put Ryan ahead of the Iowa sensation. While the NCAA rankings still seem to consider Drake as the best-performing wrestler in the category, it looks like others hold a very differing opinion on the matter, leaving fans scratching their heads about how the rankings were decided.

Soon, more community members came forward to share their bewilderment as well.

Drake Ayala’s pre-postseason standing astounds fans

When news of Crookham’s misfortune came to light, fans were heartbroken to know that the Lehigh Valley star would need to cut short his 2024/25 campaign. But, as many wrestling connoisseurs point out, Crookham’s record before his injury shouldn’t reflect on his rankings after so long still. “Can’t have a #1 ranked guy who has 5 matches the entire season,” grumbled Baschmania’s Justin Basch, opining that Drake should be the #1 star on the list in the 133lb class.

However, it did seem like InterMat hadn’t taken into consideration injuries at all. In the 157lb list, Penn State’s Tyler Kasak is at the top while Iowa’s Jacori Teemer stands at 3rd spot. Kasak also had a head injury during the dual against Maryland in early February and missed the NLWC’s final three duals of the regular season. But fans were more concerned with Ayala standing behind Crookham.

“Been saying for weeks. How can Crookham still hold the 1 seed?” another fan noted their disapproval of putting Drake behind the injured Lehigh wrestler. “Could not agree more,” another fan-run X account backed up the sentiment, while another just wanted an update on Ryan, commenting, “Can I get an answer if he is gonna wrestle this post season? I haven’t seen anything about him.”

“Ayala should be the #1,” reiterated another Iowa fan. In the 2024/25 regular season, Drake has taken down some incredible wrestlers including Nebraska’s Jacob Van Dee, Penn State’s Kurt McHenry, and Oklahoma State’s Rin Sakamoto, and this fan believes that should be enough to place him higher than Crookham.

What do you think about InterMat’s latest rankings? Which wrestler’s positioning are you the most satisfied/dissatisfied with? Tell us!